IoT

Connected device buyers’ guide

The Internet of Things has arrived, ushering in a new era of connectivity, convenience, and wonder. It’s all about what you want, how and when you want it. Want to watch that new rom-com? No need to run out, just ask your voice-controlled hub to locate the movie, and then queue it up on your streaming video device and watch it later on your smart TV.

As hot new gadgets make our homes smarter, they’re also making them more vulnerable.

With more of our devices connecting to the Internet – smart TVs, webcams, gaming consoles, thermostats – it’s crucial to have a good defense plan for your home network.

Help protect all of your personal devices connected to your home network, not just your laptop or desktop computer, with Norton Core.

With so much to gain, it shouldn’t be surprising that consumers have not only accepted these devices, they’ve made them wildly popular: Gartner estimates that more than 21 billion connected devices will be in U.S. homes by 2020. With that many devices flooding the market, people focus on what these new devices can do for them, and tend to forget about security.

These products are quickly creating a most amazing and interesting new world: it seems that a new smart device or must-have gadget is coming out every day. But what makes these products “smart,” also creates a possible security risk. And that’s why we took a look at some of most popular connected devices people are buying right now and examine the types of data they collect and share.

Before you buy: do your research

Devices become smart because they collect an abundance of personal data. And, as we’ve learned with laptops and smartphones, anything that collects information about you and connects to the Internet can be a potential threat to your security. While collecting data isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you should know about:

- The types of data these devices collect
- How this data is stored and protected
- Whether your data is shared with third parties
- The policies or protections regarding data breaches

What type of information does the device collect?

While a primary concern with laptops and mobile devices has been the ability to protect personal information such as your name, address, birthdate, many people may not realize that IoT devices also collect different types of personal information. How do smart home hubs, thermostats, lighting systems and even coffee makers “learn” about you and what you want? Smart devices are programmed to use machine learning – a type of artificial intelligence – to help the device take the data it collects with each use, your habits and patterns of usage, to become smarter about your preferences and adjust itself accordingly. Some of the information collected by the most popular devices (such as thermostats, security cameras, voice-controlled hubs, smart TVs, streaming video players, door locks, baby monitors, and children’s toys) includes:

Geolocation

Device username and password

Motion sensors are often used to detect motion in a room, sensing if the user is entering or exiting a room.

How is the data stored and protected?

The majority of these types of devices will store the data they collect on the company’s server. That means that this information will be transferred via the Internet, so you’ll want to make sure it is being transferred in a secure way. Look to see if encryption is being used to transfer your personal data.

Is my data shared with other companies?

Keep in mind that device manufacturer companies can and do share
user data. Sometimes it can be general usage statistics sold to
advertisers, and sometimes the manufacturer shares data with third
parties to so devices work the way they’re supposed to. Sharing data
with third parties is something you need to be aware of, as data
breaches can and do happen. Look for a good privacy policy that clearly
spells out what data they intend to access, save, and transmit to third
parties. You can usually find privacy policies on the manufacturer’s
website, typically around the bottom of the homepage.

After you buy: protect your device

Now that you’ve done your research and found your perfect new gadget,
there are some things you can do to beef up your device’s security.

Software and firmware updates

Use good passwords

Invest in a secure router

Software and firmware updates

One thing that is often overlooked about connected devices: they are
all computers, connected to the Internet. These computers, even though
some are as small as a coin, are still vulnerable to malware. You can
help keep these devices secure by updating any firmware or software.

Check that password

Did your device ship with a default password? If it does, the
manufacturer’s website should have instructions on how to change it.
Make sure the password you create is complicated, unique, and hard to
guess. Avoid using the same password with any other devices, though,
because while it might be easier to memorize a single password, if a
hacker gets a hold of that password, they can use it on all of your
devices.

What happens if something happens?

Although connected devices haven’t been around forever, you can still
do some consumer research about how manufacturers handle potential
issues.

Check product reviews. These can usually be found on all major
shopping websites and even on the manufacturer’s websites as well. Read
about other user experiences with the product before buying it.

Find out whether the manufacturer has been the subject of a prior data breach and how that breach was handled.

Invest in a secure router

The best way to defend networked devices is to make sure that your
router – your front door to your online world – is secure so it can
protect your network. Here at Norton, we've been keeping a close eye on
the threat landscape created by the expansion of the Internet of Things,
and we’re seeing that IoT devices are now being attacked on an average
of every two minutes. To help better secure today’s connected homes,
we're proud to announce the brand new Norton Core router.

Available for pre-order now,
Norton Core is your “Digital Deadbolt” to your connected home. As the
first and only high performance, secure router with Norton protection
bundled into it, Norton Core was built to secure and protect connected
homes. Norton Core fundamentally changes the equation as it is built
consciously, with security (data encryption, secure DNS, and automatic
security updates) as the primary consideration.

Whether it’s a thermostat that can help you conserve energy, or a
slow cooker that you can program remotely to start dinner so it’s ready
when you get home, the Internet of Things is here to stay. As long as
you understand what’s at stake, take some common-sense precautions, and
safeguard your network, you should be able to enjoy all the benefits
these smart new devices can offer.

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Symantec Corporation, the world’s leading cyber security company, allows organizations, governments, and people to secure their most important data wherever it lives. More than 50 million people and families rely on Symantec’s Norton and LifeLock comprehensive digital safety platform to help protect their personal information, devices, home networks, and identities.